According to DNR officials, one of the four drive gearboxes shattered which in turn fractured the gearbox housing. The lock will be closed and there will be no access for boaters to Crooked Lake through Crooked River.

"A repair date is difficult to estimate," said DNR district supervisor Gary Ellenwood.

However, Ellenwood said the one bright spot to the unexpected maintenance was that Army Corps of Engineers was already on hand, and they began the initial process to the fix the locks. Ellenwood offered a conservative estimate that the locks could be re-opened in seven to 10 days.

A cracked gearbox has never occurred in the 40-year-old equipment.

Although the DNR made repairs to the lock gears last year, and purchased replacement gears, the gearbox itself is much more difficult to repair. It is no longer manufactured and repair efforts will center on either finding a used gearbox or repairing the existing box.